Singapore Expats

Hi there,
I have been in SG for 9 months now and actively looking for a job in HR. There are numerous jobs advertised that I have applied for. But I barely get any response to my application. I initially thought it would be easier to find a job with my US qualifications and relevant HR experience in the luxury good industry.
In the past 9 months I have only been interviewed by 3 MNC's. And, I must say I have only experienced high levels of unprofessionalism with those companies.Following the interview there is no feedback and lack of response to any follow ups. Else they say they ''like'' you and will get back, but no response thereafter.
I have seen most HR roles advertised require only Singaporeans or PR holders to apply. Why is it so hard for DP holders to find HR jobs? Any advice what I should do? I am getting very frustrated as time is running out, I have a gap on my CV now and I used to have a good job previously.
Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me.

priyaatod wrote:Following the interview there is no feedback and lack of response to any follow ups. Else they say they ''like'' you and will get back, but no response thereafter.

Welcome to our world! I thought all HR worldwide were like that! (sorry SMS)

I have seen most HR roles advertised require only Singaporeans or PR holders to apply. Why is it so hard for DP holders to find HR jobs?

This is due to the fact that the companies have to prove that they couldn't find someone with similar and relevant experience for the job in Singapore in order to recruit you, also, there is a cost involved in employing foreigners (a levy) that maybe they are trying to avoid.

To put it straight, most HR roles are filled with locals cause there are a lot of locals who have HR experience and qualifications!

I'm afraid as a DP, it doesn't really matter what you have in regards to qualifications and such, it's as tough to get a job as it would have been for you trying from the US without it!

Don't spoil your good resume with HR experience in Singapore.

nutnut wrote:

priyaatod wrote:Following the interview there is no feedback and lack of response to any follow ups. Else they say they ''like'' you and will get back, but no response thereafter.

Welcome to our world! I thought all HR worldwide were like that! (sorry SMS)

I have seen most HR roles advertised require only Singaporeans or PR holders to apply. Why is it so hard for DP holders to find HR jobs?

This is due to the fact that the companies have to prove that they couldn't find someone with similar and relevant experience for the job in Singapore in order to recruit you, also, there is a cost involved in employing foreigners (a levy) that maybe they are trying to avoid.

To put it straight, most HR roles are filled with locals cause there are a lot of locals who have HR experience and qualifications!

I'm afraid as a DP, it doesn't really matter what you have in regards to qualifications and such, it's as tough to get a job as it would have been for you trying from the US without it!

You are wrong nutnut... DP holders don't need to worry about relevant experience... or anything like that... they just need to apply for a letter of consent... and unless they are going into necromancy, hair styling, and the such, they will get the LOC. PS: There is no levy for a LOC.

Actually, I've seen a couple rejected primarily for what looks to be
VERY substandard qualifications, e.g., the position was not a restricted one, but the DP holder never finished high school. So, there is a possibility of getting rejected on academic criteria if you do not have any.

sundaymorningstaple wrote:Actually, I've seen a couple rejected primarily for what looks to be
VERY substandard qualifications, e.g., the position was not a restricted one, but the DP holder never finished high school. So, there is a possibility of getting rejected on academic criteria if you do not have any.

Point taken, SMS... I just thought nutnut was equating an LOC to an EP in terms of the hoops an employer needs to jump through... and LOC should be easier.

Strong Eagle wrote:

sundaymorningstaple wrote:Actually, I've seen a couple rejected primarily for what looks to be
VERY substandard qualifications, e.g., the position was not a restricted one, but the DP holder never finished high school. So, there is a possibility of getting rejected on academic criteria if you do not have any.

Point taken, SMS... I just thought nutnut was equating an LOC to an EP in terms of the hoops an employer needs to jump through... and LOC should be easier.

Agreed. Perhaps these companies that OP applied for didn't know about LOC and how easy it is? Sometimes all it takes is some educating work on LOC to these companies. Reminds me of intellectualmuse's story.

Speaking of HR, here is a funny stuff about HR, from nakatago himself!

http://sevenfloorsdown.com/geeks/

I know LOCs are easier to get, my point around the qualifications and experience are unless they are significantly more than the locals then the company still has to justify to the Gahmen the reason they have taken a foreigner rather than a local with similar (maybe lesser) skills. This is still correct for LOCs surely? Otherwise we'd potentially have a load of DP holders working in McDonalds and such.

Nice to know about the levy though, thanks for that!

Another potential reason is pretty unstable position of the DP holder. It is around only for some time and dependent on the spouse's EP. It may be forced to quit at any time. Training costs money so if I had two similar candidates one on PR and the other on DP I would rather hire the first.

x9200, this is the biggest problem for employer who DO know about the LoC. The fact that it's hard to give them a "strong" position in the company due to the insecurity of being tied to somebody else coattails/EP expiry/renewal dates.

But even if they weren't tied to an EP of someone else, there is always a possibility that if someone is the main breadwinner of the family who gets a move out of Singapore they will leave. This is true even of Citizens married to foreigners too!

It's a different level (if not magnitude) of risk. For the spouses of SC or PRs it is much lower and such move may never happen because in principle at least one person is a resident. People on the work passes are just opposite, by the principle they are here temporary and I would expect the majority rather to leave than stay.

hmmm, I guess! Still an assumption, why would one be looking for a job if they intended to move in 6 months!

Bored? To keep busy? Ran out of DVDs?

I guess not many will look for a job having 6 months to go, but many EPs are for one or two years. This is still pretty short IMO from the employer's perspective.